2340AFC100623 – Fruit of the Branches
I apologize for this being so long. Much has happened in the past week that requires prayerful attention and proclamation of the Word.
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Matthew 21:43 – 43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom.
Isaiah 5:7 –
7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts
is the house of Israel,
and the people of Judah
are his pleasant planting;
he expected justice,
but saw bloodshed;
righteousness,
but heard a cry!
Psalm 80:8 –
8 You brought a vine out of Egypt;
you drove out the nations and planted it.
Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! Grace and Peace to each of you from God our Father and our Lord, Jesus the Christ, in the Power of the Holy Spirit. The readings for this weekend – the 27th week in Ordinary Time – are about vineyards, grapevines, grapes, and vinedressers (sort of). Before we jump into what the Holy Spirit has for us today, I want to share something he suggested as an opener:
John 15:4-9 – 4 Abide* in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. 6 Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become] my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love.
* μένω (meno) {men’-o} – abide, remain, dwell, continue, tarry, endure; to remain, abide in reference to place, to sojourn, to tarry, not to depart, to continue to be present, to be held, kept continually; to continue to be, not to perish, to last, to endure; of persons: to survive, live, to remain as one, not to become another or different, to wait for someone In the Old Testament it is יָשַׁב (yashab) {yaw-shab’} – to sit, remain, dwell; abide, live, stay tarry, connect.
That’s a lot of stuff up there, so I should just get on with it. For the topic 
at hand, we begin with a riddle: Q: What do you call a boomerang that doesn’t come back? (Come on, you know this one.) A STICK! Now, what do you call a branch cut off from the tree? You want to say “a stick,” but that’s not correct. A branch cut off of the tree is kindling. Matthew 7:19 – 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. In either case, whatever is cut away ends up getting burned. I see you’ve figured out where we’re going with this, so “Per spem ad astra!” – Through hope to the stars (Or perhaps Per ardua ad astra! Through struggle to the stars.) Here we go!
Suppose I know that you really love grapes. I decide I want to give you a memorable present, so I go to a vineyard being pruned and gather up a few of the pruned branches, and wrap them in a pretty velvet bow as a friendship present to you. “Not much of a present,” you say. “What am I supposed to do with these? They’re already wilting.” You get the idea. You do not define your life, or anyone else’s, by the fruit that can’t be grown on pruned branches. Like the artist who discards everything he does not need in a chunk of marble so that only the figure remains, the branches that are pruned are discarded because they allow the true purpose of the vine to become manifest. The vine bears more fruit after it is pruned.
In the passages above, we see the Lord God is addressing Israel, the vineyard he transplanted from Egypt. We’ve spoken many times here about a type or figure. Egypt is the type for captivity in sin. God released Israel from their bondage in Egypt. God’s Son was called forth from Egypt after Joseph and Mary took him there when Herod wiped out the babies in Bethlehem. God is telling Israel through his servant and Prophet, Isaiah, that he rescued the chosen, fruitful vines of Israel and transplanted them after he cleared the land of the vineyard from all the weeds, junk, and corruption there. After treating them so carefully, they “went wild” on him and did not live up to the promise of rich fruit that was expected. There are really strong lessons for us in this collection of readings for Sunday. We can start with Jesus’ words in the Gospel of Matthew. They directly echo God’s words through Isaiah: Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom.
This Gospel quote comes from the Parable of the Wicked Tenants. A landowner planted a vineyard and leased it out. The tenants did not pay 
him his share of the crops. He twice sent emissaries to ask for their cooperation, but they abused his messengers and even killed one. At last he sent his son, believing that they would surely not harm him. Instead they plotted against him and killed his son as well. We can see plainly enough with our 2023 hindsight that this is about Israel and Jesus, the Son of the Landowner. At the end of the parable, the people who heard it passed judgments on those evil tenants: They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.” We can easily understand “God is due what (and who) belongs to him.” And we also understand that if we refuse to Repent and Believe the Gospel, we will be among the kindling.
In the “Song of the Vineyard” in Isaiah, God wanted Israel (and ultimately Believers) to abide in him, to be fruitful in and for and through him. Instead they bore wild, practically unusable fruit. One can make wine from wild grapes, but it is sour-tasting beyond the flavor of common “dry wines.” We can imagine a community of “wild men,” but it would be a community of adversity. Even wild grapes can be pruned and cultivated, but the “wildness” doesn’t really depart from them. Good vines should produce good wines, but sometimes vines go haywire and lose their goodness. The same things happen to people, right? But suppose we have good vines, an expert vine dresser, knowledgeable vineyard workers, and all the right equipment to gather and process the fruit. What then?
The good fruit is harvested only from the good branches of the good vines, and the good branches only produce good fruit if they are part of the good vines. It’s time to stop beating around the bush (or rather vines) and get to the point: Am I, are you, are we among the branches pruned away? Is our spiritual life wilting and drying up because we’re no longer connected to the Vine? “I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.” Most of us who are reading this are abiding in him. Someone who is not abiding in him is probably in one of two categories: Either they have been pruned away, or they have not been branches of the True Vine.
Consider this from Matthew 7:15-16 – 15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 
16 You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? Another translation puts it like this: Matthew 7:16 (ICB) – 16 You will know these people because of the things they do. Good things don’t come from bad people, just as grapes don’t come from thornbushes. And figs don’t come from thorny weeds. [1] In this example, Jesus is talking about false prophets, but doesn’t it seem possible it could also be referring to false believers or even unbelievers? “Oh, but we can’t call them ‘bad people.’ That’s prejudicial. We might damage their self-esteem!” If Jesus also described them as looking like sheep but underneath being ravenous wolves, that sounds like ‘bad people’ to me. Is it really possible that there are some people who cannot bear the Fruit of the True Vine even though they look like every other thing/person in the vineyard? You already know the answer to that. Would it surprise us to be able to actually see that? If we look, listen, and ponder, we will understand – we cannot bless what is wicked any more than we can eat thorns and call them figs. Such condonation leads to death for both the sinner and the condoner. Remember Phineas and Hophni whose allegiance was to Satan, not God. Their father, the priest Eli did chide them but did not condemn them. As a result the two sinful men died and later Eli died (see 1 Samuel 4:11-18). If any of us are unfamiliar with this account we should study it carefully. There is a faction in the Church that seeks to condone what is clearly evil and prohibited in Scripture, Tradition, and Church Teaching. A list of some of those things is found in the passage above from Galatians 5:19-23. I also offer this for more insight: Romans 1:26-32 – 26 For this reason God gave them up to degrading passions. Their women exchanged natural intercourse for unnatural, 27 and in the same way also the men, giving up natural intercourse with women, were consumed with passion for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in their own persons the due penalty for their error.
28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind and to things that should not be done. 29 They were filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, craftiness, they are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, rebellious toward parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 They know God’s decree, that those who practice such things deserve to die — yet they not only do them but even applaud others who practice them. Whenever any of these is condoned, when any of these are absolved without repentance, THE SINNER AND THE CONDONER WILL DIE FOREVER. YOLO-F! Belovéd, pay attention to what is happening in the Synod on Synodality and watch carefully as questions and answers are published!
No fruit will come from a vine or a tree or grass or wheat or any green growing thing unless it has its roots in a nourishing environment. Belovéd, where are your roots? I hope by now you know where mine are – they are in the Word, not the World. I make it a point throughout every day that I must be in the Vine. Those who know me best know that in addition to being in the vine daily, I also need (and often receive) a severe and well-deserved pruning as well. Let’s grab another branch from these roots. Here we go with another flashback:
1518AFC050115 – Fruit to Root You can sort of make a climbing rose look like a grape vine by tying clusters of grapes to it. You can make a cactus look like it is bearing figs by sticking them to the thorns. Would that really fool anyone? Yet sometimes we try to do that with our lives; we try to make them appear as though we are yielding spiritual fruits by showing the outward signs of them. Do those signs last? If they don’t start at the root, then of course they don’t last! The same is true of false prophets. They drape themselves with the supposed fruits of their prophecy, but everything they produce smells of decay and ruin. They reek of the fruits of the flesh as found in Galatians 5:19-23 – 19 Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, 21 envy [and murder] drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (my emphasis added) 22 By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.
In this time of upheaval we could also add terror, murder, blasphemy, deceit, persecutions, violence, evil appetites, abortion, addictions, slander, libel, calumny, and many, many other similar evil things. When people produce this kind of fruit, it is because of where their roots are growing. It grows from a bad tree and produces only bad fruit. When that fruit is fed to others, it takes root in them as well – we are what we eat. If, then, Christ is in us, then the fruit we bear will be good fruit if we remain in HIM. Will parts of our lives be like a slightly-fruitful vine that is pruned away to make better growth? Will we remain true to our roots? Will we produce the fruits to feed others? When such as these look at us, what might they find? Will they see a True Branch of the True Vine?
A condensed version of a story I heard from a Brother in 2011: A woman said, “I had a dream where I was in a line of people going into 
heaven. I looked across at the line of people going down into Hell. I saw the face of a friend. She looked over at me and said, “Why didn’t you tell me?” You know what, Beloved? There is a very good chance we are part of God’s intent to “fully supply all” that person’s (and even many others’) needs! What’s stopping us? Whatever it is, there is an eternal life-or-death decision we must make before it is too late. Let none of us be another stick in the … pile through condonation. Repent and Believe AND LIVE the Gospel! And what shall we do to live the Gospel?
Start with this: Philippians 4:8-9 – 8 Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. (↔ Music Link) 9 Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you. We can practice living by the GIGO rule – Gospel In, Gospel Out. And if we’re still unsure about how to stay connected with that True Vine, we have this from just up the page in Philippians 4:6-7 – 6 Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. There’s an everlasting love (↔ Music Link) in that, Belovéd. I heard it through the grapevine (↔ Music Link – just for fun!), and maybe that’s another way to testify – just don’t gossip – EVANGELIZE! Maybe open a branch office?
Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
[1] International Children’s Bible (ICB) The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission from the Publisher
